First, chop those veggies. That’s the hardest part. I used by mini food processor for the carrots.

Heat the olive oil and add the onions. Saute for a few minutes, add garlic, saute for another minute. Then add your carrots, red bell pepper, sweet potato, tomato and cauliflower. Stir to combine and then partially cover pan and cook for 8 – 9 minutes, stirring occasionally. Partially covering the pot lets the veggies steam and soften better.

Next, add chickpeas, pumpkin and all of the spices. Combine thoroughly. Then finally add the coconut milk and water, combine with the veggie mixture. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. You’ll know it’s done once all your veggies are cooked. The longer you let it simmer, the thicker it will get so go by your preference.

I served mine with some cooked wheat berries. Eat it plain or top some quinoa or brown rice or any other ancient grain you prefer.

Creamy Garlic Avocado Cauliflower Mash

We are still here in gorgeous South Dakota. Yesterday we went to Mount Rushmore and marveled at this piece of Americana. Pictures definitely don’t do it justice.

Then we went on some gorgeous nature drives through Custer State Park. We stopped off at the grocery store first to and pick up a bag of apples and carrots because we were told there would be wild burros that we could feed. What we didn’t like is that we were told that people feed them crackers and cookies. CRACKERS AND COOKIES? Well we couldn’t have that so we got them some healthy snacks. Of course we did 🙂

Happy Burros 🙂

After a long day of seeing incredible views we were hungry. We stopped off in a little town called Keystone, SD. I really wanted to find something to eat that I couldn’t find at home and I did. (I apologize in advance to the vegan/vegetarian souls.) I had bison ribs. If I do eat meat, I choose bison because it is very lean and has a lot less fat. Of course I was offered the typical potato side dish and bread of which I turned both down. But, this recipe for Creamy Garlic Avocado Cauliflower Mash would have gone PERFECT. It’s a healthy comfort food side!

I do love mashed potatoes but don’t love the actual potato so much. Not because they aren’t delicious but I don’t love the starch content and that they metabolize as sugar in the gut. They are high on the glycemic index which is the method in which to measure how certain foods spike blood sugar and insulin levels.

But you don’t need to give up the creamy garlic mashed potato flavor. Simple substitutions make all the difference in terms of creating a healthy side that is gluten free, full of fiber, protein, good fats, low-calorie and low in carbs.

Since cheese isn’t included on the paleo or vegan diet, you can omit the cheese or use nutritional yeast instead and make this true paleo and vegan.

Easy Savory Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower is one of the most versatile vegetables for sure. Because of it’s mild flavor, it adapts to pretty much any flavor you pair it with. It can be made into cauliflower rice, used for cauliflower cheese sticks or even cauliflower pizza crust.

It’s paleo, gluten-free, low-carb and vegan. Not to mention has lots of B-vitamins, vitamin C, antioxidants, fiber and contains cancer fighting properties. It’s one of the good guys for sure and this is an easy way to sneak this veggie into your meals.

Roasting cauliflower is super easy and can be customized to suit your preference for spices. I made this one with coconut palm sugar, paprika, a little salt and olive oil. Just use the florets of the cauliflower and toss thoroughly with the olive oil and spices, lay on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake. Done.

I love the combination of slightly sweet flavor from the coconut palm sugar with the delicate spice of the paprika but you can use any flavor combo that you are partial to.

If sweet and spice isn’t your thang, try using Italian seasoning, dry mustard and honey, jerk seasoning, nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor or just salt and pepper. Whatever seasoning you use, just mix it with the olive oil and massage into the florets. So versatile!

I could eat the entire head of cauliflower myself but if you aren’t greedy like me, you might want to share. It’s so savory and easy that you might make 2 heads next time.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust (Gluten Free)

Boy oh boy do I love pizza! What I don’t love are the carbs, the white processed flours and preservatives in the crust. Plus I’m always looking for a way to make something more nutritious without sacrificing flavor.

I posted a recipe for Cauliflower Cheese Sticks a little while ago and with the leftover cauliflower made myself a delicious cauliflower crusted personal pizza. The technique is slightly different though and this recipe is for a medium size pizza.

The steps are really easy, there are just a few of them. But it’s well worth it to me because I like knowing exactly what’s in my food and more importantly, what is not.

You’ll be impressed with yourself with what a delicious, nutritious and satisfying pizza crust you made. Let’s get started shall we?

Ingredients:

1 medium size head of cauliflower (you’ll make “rice” with it)

1 egg (room temperature)

3/4 tablespoon italian seasoning

1/4 tablespoon dried onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

3 tablespoon finely grated parmesan (like the kind that comes in a shaker)

Directions:

HOW-TO make cauliflower rice. This is so easy peazy, it’s ridiculous. I took my head of cauliflower, trimmed off the big green stem and the leaves and took it to the grater.

I grated it just like cheese and it magically became cauliflower rice. So genius. I didn’t grate all the down to the stems, I just did all of the florets. If you have a food processor you can put the “rice” in it for a few pulses to make it even finer. Now that you have your “rice”, the rest is even easier.

Place your cauliflower rice in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 5 minutes. Don’t add any water, just the cauliflower. This will release a lot of the moisture in the cauliflower.

After the 5 minutes are up, lay out a clean dish rag and put 2 paper towels on top of it. Place your cauliflower on the paper towels.

Let it cool down just a minute and wring out the water from your mixture. I ended up using 2 more paper towels for a second wringing just to make sure I got as much water out as possible.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg like you were making scrambled eggs. Now add the egg to the cauliflower mixture. Mix everything well.

Almost done. Now form your mixture into a ball and place on a greased parchment paper lined baking sheet. Flatten dough out to (about a 1/4 inch thick) make a round pizza crust. You can make it any shape (heart, square, etc.) as long as it’s only about a 1/4 inch thick. The thinner it is, the crispier your crust will be.

Bake crust for 12 – 15 minutes.

You’ll want to see some browning around the edges before flipping. A little more than I show in my photo above. I flipped a little too soon (as you can see in the photo below). It didn’t matter though, it will end up cooking more when the toppings go on.

Once you’ve flipped it, it’s time for TOPPINGS!!!! Add some sauce, veggies, fruit, meat, cheese, whatever you want and cook for another 5 – 6 minutes depending on how well you like your pizza done.

Word of caution, it will be hot so if you can stand it, let it cool off a couple of minutes before cutting.

This pizza was amazing! Make it a family fun night and divide up your cauliflower crust mixture into mini-pizzas that everyone can personalize. Shape it into a heart crust for that someone special or do like I did and make it for yourself and don’t share with anyone 🙂

HOW-TO make cauliflower rice. This is so easy peazy, it’s ridiculous. I took my head of cauliflower, trimmed off the big green stem and the leaves and took it to the grater.

I grated it just like cheese and it magically became cauliflower rice. So genius. I didn’t grate all the down to the stems, I just did all of the florets. If you have a food processor you can put the “rice” in it for a few pulses to make it finer. I didn’t pulse mine and I loved them just the same.

Your head of cauliflower will make way more than the recipe calls for but that’s ok because you can cover it and store it in the fridge. Trust me, you’ll be making another batch of these really soon.

Combine your cauliflower rice, your egg and ¾ cup of shredded mozzarella. If using a large egg, beat it before mixing with the cauliflower. If you use egg substitute, add away. Mix until everything is combined well.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and transfer mixture to it. It’s ok that it doesn’t cover the entire cookie sheet, the important part is that it’s about a 1/2 inch thick. Mine only covered about ½ of the sheet. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until set.

You’ll know it’s set when you can flip it over easily.

Remove from oven and flip. I found it easier to cut into quarters with a pizza cutter then flip the pieces. Increase oven temperature to 450 and bake for 15 minutes after you’ve flipped them over.

After the 15 minutes is up, remove from oven and cut into strips. Separate them slightly on the cookie sheet and sprinkle with Italian seasoning and salt (a little or a lot depending on your taste). Top with the remaining ¼ cup of mozzarella. Put back in oven for 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Let cool slightly, nothing ruins an evening like a burnt tongue, ouch. Serve with marinara or pizza sauce. Pat yourself on the back for making an undercover vegetable dish the family will love. But don’t blink because these will be gone before you know it.

*Truth be told, I used a 1/2 cup of Mexican shredded cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan because I didn’t have shredded mozzarella in the house. Fingers crossed. –Update on using the different cheese: the Mexican cheese burns faster than mozzarella so I suggest flipping them at 27 minutes then only raising the temperature to 400. Bake for another 15 minutes like the original recipe then just follow along with the rest of the original steps.